


With you

by themagnificentquack



Series: stuffed animals are for everyone and i live by that [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow and the Canaries (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Healthy Coping Mechanisms (yay)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27924793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themagnificentquack/pseuds/themagnificentquack
Summary: sorry writing a summary is too much work but this fic is cute i like it
Relationships: Dinah Drake/Earth-2 Laurel Lance
Series: stuffed animals are for everyone and i live by that [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053194
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	With you

Dinah laid awake staring at the ceiling, insecurity flooding her veins and dominating her thoughts. She turned on her side, and then the other side, but she just couldn't get comfortable. She wouldn't be able to sleep until she dealt with this. She had to know- one way or another.

She crept down the stairs, doing her best to avoid the creaky floorboards. It was pointless- she was planning on waking Laurel up anyway- but they had been living together for so long that it was habit by now.

She started over to the couch but she was intercepted by the coffee table that she swore appeared out of nowhere just to smack her shin.

She was pleasantly surprised that the resulting string of curses didn't wake Laurel up. A month ago it would have, but Laurel had seemed less anxious lately. It was part of the reason Dinah didn't talk to her about her insecurities earlier. Everything about their relationship seemed good- except for this one little thing that ate away at her until it was all she could think about.

She knelt down next to the couch and hesitated. A small smile formed as she stared down at Laurel's sleeping face. She rested her hand gently on Laurel's shoulder to wake her up and then backed up in case she struck out in fear.

Laurel's eyes opened quickly and she tensed up, but she relaxed the second she saw Dinah.

"Hey," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She glanced around and, seeming to notice it was still dark, looked back at Dinah with a hint of worry. "Is everything okay?" she asked, grabbing the stuffed duck Dinah bought her to stim with (they were all out of canaries) and running her thumb over its soft fur.

"Yeah, all good. I just need to ask you something," Dinah said nervously.

Laurel sat up. "Okay," she said. She sounded confused but she seemed to sense Dinah's nerves and decided against mentioning the time.

Dinah took a deep breath and, knowing she might not like the answer, asked, "Why don't you ever smile when you're around just me?"

"Oh," Laurel said. "I guess because I don't feel like I have to."

Dinah frowned in confusion and sat back on her heels. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Laurel thought about it for a second. "I feel like I can be myself around you, and I don't have to make my face do things it doesn't want to do just to keep you comfortable," she said.

Dinah looked down at her lap. "So you're never happy?" she asked warily.

"No!" Laurel said. "I am happy. I'm happy a lot of the time. I like my life, and I like what we do, and I like you. You make me happy D, you really do."

"But"- Dinah started.

Laurel interrupted her, already knowing what she was going to say. "I don't smile because I'm so used to pretending to feel things I don't that whenever I try to show my emotions it feels like I'm lying. So, I just don't show them," she said.

"Oh, okay. Sorry," Dinah said, guilty that her own insecurities put Laurel in an uncomfortable position.

Laurel patted the couch next to her and Dinah sat down. "What are you sorry for?" Laurel asked, pulling the blanket up to cover them both.

Dinah shrugged. "I feel like I forced you into talking about yourself, and I know you hate doing that."

Laurel laid down and pulled Dinah with her so they were spooning. It was a tight fit on the small couch, but neither of them minded the closeness.

"If I didn't want to tell you I wouldn't have," Laurel said. "Besides, I'm glad we talked about it, because it gave me an idea. How about in the future when I'm sad I'll tap your hand once, and when I'm happy I'll tap twice."

"What about angry?" Dinah asked teasingly. "That's an important one for you."

"Hey!" Laurel said, laughing. "I'm not angry all the time, just generally annoyed and frustrated. And yes we'll add one for angry. We can make a whole code."

Dinah smiled. "How are you feeling now?" she asked.

Laurel reached over and tapped her hand twice.

"That's happy right?" Dinah asked.

"Of course," Laurel replied. "I'm with you."

**Author's Note:**

> might fuck around and write the time when they went to buy the stuffed animals i feel like that would b cute


End file.
